PR04 Meeting the Environmental Challenge Catherine Wright AMP4 Project Manager

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PR04 - Meeting the Environmental Challenge
Catherine WrightAMP4 Project Manager
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Current Performance

• Investing over 2bn each year on maintenance and
  the environment
• Discharge compliance is 99 for most companies
• Water companies caused 1 in 6 serious water
  pollution incidents in 2002
• Recent increase in leakage

From Spotlight Report
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What we want to achieve.

• environmental performance is maintained
• our most important wildlife sites are protected
  from pollution and over-use of water resources
• our freshwater fisheries are improved
• our bathing beaches remain safe for use

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The Benefits

• Revised programme
• Improving
• 5000 km river,
• 2200 km2 coastal still waters,
• 25 wetlands,
• 31 bathing beaches
• Benefits of 3.5 to 7 billion

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Draft Business Plans Financing Issues

• Environment programme is one of many pressures
• not the biggest
• varies by company
• over two thirds of environment programme has
  statutory drivers
• Therefore we advise
• all companies assessed on full programme of must
  dos
• costs should be challenged
• check financing assumptions

Company preferred strategies (Ofwat October 2003)
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Advice on Security of Water Resources

• Companies have not included all statutory
  environment schemes
• Rising demand for water, but could do more to
  manage demand
• Rising leakage
• Significant resource development programme

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Other sectors

• our programme targets where action is required by
  the water industry
• parallel action to address other sectors
• diffuse pollution
• other abstractors
• to realise full environmental benefits prepare
  for the Framework Directive

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Beyond the 2004 Periodic Review

• Long-term pressures for further investment
• Water Framework Directive, Thames Gateway,Climate
  Change.
• Long-term view of environmental pressures
• Water Resources Plans, Water Framework Directive
• Sustainable financial structure, than can deal
  with uncertainties.

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In summary...

• A good water environment needs
• a successful water industry
• a well-maintained network that can meet new
  obligations
• support from customers on demand management
• long-term certainty wherever possible with
  appropriate mechanisms for managing change.